Built From The Geopark

A project to investigate and map the condition of Charnwood Forest’s dry stone walls to better understand their complex construction and establish how best to care for them. This will be achieved through a Citizen Science project involving volunteers and through a special lichen survey which will help us understand whether the walls were originally lime mortared. We will establish an apprenticeship programme to give young people or career changers an opportunity to develop skills in stone wall restoration. Repairs will be carried out at publicly accessible sites.

A dry stone wall with trees on the left hand side

THE ACTION

Aims

The project aims to investigate and understand Charnwood Forest’s stone walls and to develop a sustainable restoration programme for this unique built heritage feature. Local skill will be developed in Charnwood Forest stone walling.

Achievements

Apprenticeship

Discover more about our joint project with Bradgate Park

Charnwood Forest Trails

Improving priority rights of way and creating links to provide a joined up network of clear, themed, guided and self- guided walks and cycle routes from urban centres and honeypot sites.

Choose How You travel

Guides and support for sustainable travel to get to and around Charnwood Forest by rail, bus, cycling and walking.

Geopark on Your Doorstep

A community outreach project to enable more people and a wider range of people to engage with Charnwood Forest’s landscape and heritage.

A Warm Welcome

Providing a high quality experience for visitors by improving small scale tourism facilities, the quality and welcome of sites, and the coherence of the visitor offer.

Unearthing What’s Special About Charnwood Forest

This project will encourage and enable people to explore and research the layers of heritage.

Celebrating Charnwood Forest

Engaging people through a variety of art forms and events to record and celebrate local heritage, stories and traditions.

A Learning Landscape

An outdoor learning development programme which helps to create outdoor learning facilities and engages learners of all ages to learn in and about the landscape.

Fire Your Imagination

Engaging communities in developing an exciting range of interpretive media across all types of heritage for a broad audience.

Charnwood Forest Food and Products

This project will provoke conversations about produce from the Forest, reduce environmental impacts and food waste and support small producers.

A Coherent Wildlife Network

A bigger, better, more joined up approach to managing Charnwood Forest, linking up and extending out from the central area where the best wildlife habitats remain.

Charnwood Forest Rocks

Charnwood Forest has a truly distinctive geoheritage rooted in its Precambrian fossils – some of the earliest evidence of animal life.

Built From the Geopark

A project to investigate and map the condition of Charnwood Forest’s dry stone walls to better understand their complex construction and establish how best to care for them.

Charnwood Forest Volunteers

A project to grow and support a committed team of volunteers actively caring for Charnwood Forest and to better co-ordinate volunteering across the Forest.

Friends of the Geopark

Supporting the development of a network of local community interest / friends of groups, providing and signposting them to advice, training and grants to improve skills and capacity building.

Resilient Honeypot Sites

Bradgate Park, Beacon Hill and Outwoods are the most visited sites in Charnwood Forest.

Heritage Skills Training Programme

The Heritage Skills Training Programme will enable people to develop new skills and support the management of Charnwood Forest’s landscape and heritage assets.